I've read that they need sun protection in the winter.

I have grown 7 different camellias over the last 4 years, one of which died. Half are spring blooming & half are fall blooming. I believe that the April series are all spring bloomers. Fall bloomers are more sun tolerant than spring bloomers & are not as prone to frost damage on their flower buds.

One of the prime spaces to plant a spring-blooming camellia is on the north side of your house. This tends to offer winter shade, to protect the plant from winter winds, and to protect the plants from warming too quickly in the winter & spring.

Ideally, you could find a space that has morning sun & afternoon shade, but you have to work with what you have available. In a sunnier situation, you might look into getting fall blooming camellias next time. Some cultivars from the National Arboretum are listed here:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/camelli1.html

Make sure that you do a good job of prepping the soil, especially that the root ball is slightly higher than the surrounding soil level. Also, be sure to water the plant very well til the current drought breaks!

Hope that this helps,

Dan

Thanks for all that info. This is my first camellia and it does bloom in April and is supposed to be hardy to zone 6 (I'm in zone 7). I've already planted it and it turns out it is on the north side of my house, so that's good I guess.
I will definitely consider a fall-blooming one next time. I did plant this one with plenty of composted manure and slightly high. I'm thinking I'll give it some protection for this first winter.

I have grown camelias here in NoVA for years, but it does help to keep winter sun off of them and out of the wind. Protection for the first few years isn't a bad idea and use an anti dessicant like Wilt-Pruf as it cuts down on winter damage tremedously.

Thanks. I'll get some Wilt-Pruf.

The fall bloomers are Camellia sasanqua (sp?) and the spring bloomers are C. japonica. I like the sasanquas too because they start blooming in the fall and bloom through much of the winter. Wilt-Pruf is good stuff. I've used it on roses to help with blackspot too.

Last fall, I planted 3 Winter's Star camellias (C. oleifera x C. sasanqua), to partially replace a terribly overgrown Japanese holly hedge that was torn out in a front bed-right now, they are beautiful! I added another one in the back, also have 3 Wm. Lanier, planted in spring, that have suffered over the hot, dry summer. I just got a 'Snow Flurry', another Ackerman hybrid & I'm scouting for more places for camellias-I love them...

Thistle, Merrifield (the one IN Merrifield) has a lot of camellias right now, many in bloom, and I saw some great ones at Behnke's in Potomac about three weeks ago. Good luck in your quest!

This has been very informative. After a bad winter I lost some spring blooming camellias and now I believe it was probably due to high winds and the late winter early spring morning warm up that turns to a quick afternoon freeze. Excellent advise to plant winter tender plants on the north side. I am trying Wilt-Pruf for the first time this year and have high hopes. Myloki when do you spray the roses for black spot with Wilt-Pruf spring or fall? Has any one else used it for anything other than moisture loss? Katy

runktrun, it has been a while since I used Wilt-pruf on roses, but I applied it whenever they began to show signs of blackspot. It seemed fairly effective at preventing further spread. I normally use dormant oil in the late winter when the leaf buds are swelling and I am doing my spring pruning and fertilizing then usually no other sprays during the year. I used the Wilt-pruf a few years ago when I had a pretty bad break-out. It seemed to help get things under control again and it didn't burn the foliage like dormant oil might have in hot weather.

I am going to use Wilt-Pruf on most everything that is evergreen or sensitive to cold, winter sun and wind, including my cold hardy palm trees. They look great with my camelias.